Day 7 - Feb 21 - A challenging day

Warning: Much of this post will be whining, because I had an extremely difficult day. I'm okay now, because I'm clean, warm and dry in a motel room, but I had an especially difficult time today.

Although it was a relatively balmy 45 degrees last night, I froze to death. For some reason, I have very poor circulation in my feet, so they were blocks of ice all night. Nothing I did helped. Then, at 5 a.m., we awoke to cats fighting. There was no way we were going back to sleep, so we got up in the dark and packed up our stuff. We were on the road by 6:30 am, which is WAY early for me, so I was grumpy in the extreme. We stopped for breakfast at Hardy's, and when we came out, it was raining. Not bad, but a steady drizzle. Did I mention it was a cold rain? So we put on our rain gear, which is stifling hot while riding because of the heat we generate, and took off.

                                            (Mike, Carol and Rosie outside a convenience store)

The terrain was hilly for most of the morning. Up and down. Up and down. Fortunately, we had a car-sized breakdown lane to ride on. At some point, Carol had mentioned that she wanted a donut. When we got into Bogalusa, there was a donut shop right there. Go figure! I had one of the best apple fritters on the planet, and a hot cup of coffee. It was delightful. We then went across the street to the Evil Empire, where I bought a light-weight fleece blanket to put in the bottom of my sleeping bag. I hope it helps.

                                  (A ubiquitous Walmart (in fact, a mother ship to The Evil Empire))

The next few miles was mind-jarring and teeth-rattling, as the pavement was in terrible shape. There was also a ton of road debris. Around noon, it started misting again, and I had white knuckles as I bounced and bucked down the road at 12 miles an hour. At the risk of offending, I must say that I found Jesus. I'm not one to pray, but I was praying -- for smoother pavement, for the rain to stop, but mostly for no flat tires. I was not in any mood to change a tire on the side of the road. Fortunately, my prayers were answered. I think if I was ever going to have a flat, it would have been today. I ran over so much stuff -- glass, metal, wood, road kill, you name it.

We never did stop for lunch. I had some chocolate milk (the best thing EVER), and we rode on. 

                                                   (Thank goodness for convenience stores!)

Another fifteen miles to Covington, LA. We made it to Louisiana! Yay for us!

The road we were on turned into a six-lane highway (Mom, don't read this part) with no shoulder. Cars were flying by. It was raining again, as we searched for a reasonably-priced motel room. On the way, Carol spotted a Verizon store, so I bought another phone charger. Yay.

We're now staying at the Super 8 Motel in Covington, LA. We rode 55 miles today. It was the most taxing day yet. But we made it. A shower and an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet made me a new woman.

As for my bike problems, wouldn't you know there happens to be a bike shop across the street from where we're staying, but it's closed tomorrow (Sundays and Mondays). There's another one about three miles down the road in the opposite direction from where we're going tomorrow, but I'm going to try to be there when they open and get my bike fixed, so we don't have to go to Baton Rouge. If I can't get it fixed here, we will go through Hammond tomorrow and hope there is a bike shop there. If not, it's on to Baton Rouge. Otherwise, we're going to wind our way northwest and re-join the Southern Tier route we were on. So stay tuned on our destination for tomorrow.

Okay, so it's after 8 pm. Way past our bedtime. Time to go. Talk at you tomorrow.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone